May 17, 2012

Posts Comments

Support Military Families and Support the Soldiers

Support Military Families and Support the Soldiers

There never seems to be a shortage of war in the world. One ends and another begins and soldiers are away from their family protecting their countries for extended periods of time. This means that their families are left to tend to themselves often short handed. Supporting families of the military is a vital part that communities can take part in to show they appreciate all the work the soldiers are putting in. This support can come in a variety of ways including putting together a series of pot lucks and events where the families can get together and be supportive of each other. In addition there are little things that can be done to help lift the burden of being a single parent home such as helping with car pooling and offering babysitting. You can even set up some support groups for the families so that they can alternate out dinners once a week giving the remaining parent a break from the hectic schedules.

Taking some time to research how you can help your local military families will go a long way to helping the military function properly while at war. Knowing that their families are cared for while they are at war is how they are able to do their jobs and keep themselves and fellow soldiers safe from harm. This is vital to being able to complete their tour and coming home to their family. The best thing you can do for the safety of the country and the military is to keep their family safe from harm and help them cope with the missing family members who are doing the hard work at war. Taking time to check with the families that live near you about what you can do to help them get through the tough times is a great way to show your support for your country and it’s hard working soldiers.

Filed Under: News, War Tagged With: , ,

BBC Arabic Reporter Beaten in Egypt

BBC Arabic Reporter Beaten in Egypt

Over the past two months the situation in Egypt has become extremely hostile. After years of feeling as if the government was not listening to them many citizens took to the streets in protest. As with any story it was up to the international journalists and reporters to bring the story home to those in the United States and the United Kingdom.

While it is generally understood that international journalists are impartial that was not the case in Egypt. The very first example of just how brutal the situation in Egypt was with the case of a reporter for the BBC Arabic Assad Sawey.

Assad Sawey was covering the story for the BBC when a group of Egyptian police surrounded him. The police are reported as saying that they did not care about the BBC and any other organization. They tried to place him under arrest in which he protested. Instead of arresting him the police officers chose to brutally beat him leaving him with a bleeding head wound.

Instead of immediately seeking medical help Assad Sawey when directly on camera in his blood covered shirt and reported to the BBC exactly what was going on and the situation that had happened.

When it comes to reporting international incident journalists and reporters are typically allowed to report within a neutral zone. However, the situation in Egypt spiraled quickly out-of-control which resulted in many police and citizens turning on international journalists and reporters.

This incident regarding the BBC Arabic allow the international community not only to see how hostile things had gotten in Egypt but also allowed the international community to see exactly what international reporters and journalists put online every day and effort to bring the story firsthand to their viewers and readers.

Filed Under: Media Workers, News Tagged With: , ,

An Example of Egypt’s Violation of International Journalism

An Example of Egypt’s Violation of International Journalism

When a reporter heads over to a war-torn or crisis area is generally assumed that their protection is guaranteed by the international law. All journalists and reporters know that by entering the war-torn area they are risking their safety and could potentially be harmed or killed. However, a journalist attack has not happened in many years. That was until this past month when CBS reporter Lara Logan was brutally beaten in the middle of the Egypt protests.

On February 11, Lara Logan and a group of journalists were reporting on the protests and celebrations regarding the exit of the then Egyptian President. The attack was originally reported by CBS is being just a brutal attack. However, new details have been released detailing the attack that happened on Laura Logan. The attack included Laura Logan being stripped, punched repeatedly, pinched and beaten with flagpoles.

Every precaution was taken to ensure the safety of the journalist at the time. Laura Logan was surrounded by Egyptian guards and even a fellow journalist. However, the group was so large that it overtook all the guards and the fellow journalists.

Laura Logan is currently back at home recovering from the assault. While she is recovering the United States and the White House is demanding that Egypt and the new government bring justice for the attack that happened on Logan. In many countries is considered a crime to assault international journalist and even viewed as a violation of international law and public relations.

Despite the fact that this attack is a result of a brutally hostile environment is an example of how journalists and reporters put their lives and safety on the line in order to bring the international community the story.

Filed Under: Media Workers, News Tagged With: ,

ABC Reporter Beaten While on the Phone

ABC News Radio

Image via Wikipedia

ABC Reporter Beaten While on the Phone

The media world has been rocked by the hundreds of riot that are happening in the Arab world. The only way the Western world can get the information about these riots and protests is actually send journalists to the heart of the crisis. The problem is that after years of not having Western journalist be attacked while reporting in the middle of war turned in crisis areas the Arab world is breaking the unspoken vow that international journalists are hands-off when it comes to rioting and protests.

In Egypt there are dozens of examples of Western journalists being attacked while he tried to report the story to those of the Western world. This week’s riots in Bahrain brought out one of the worst attacks on a Western journalist.

A reporter for ABC news Miguel Marquez was reporting right outside of Pearl Squa. As Miguel was giving updates over the phone to his New York office a huge gain of thugs pulled out Miguel’s camera and started to beat the ABC news reporter. As the attack was going on Miguel kept phone communication with the New York office which diligently recorded the whole attack over the phone.

While this attack on the ABC news reporter was shocking the most shocking part was the fact that it was captured on tape. ABC news quickly release the attack which allowed the Western world and the rest of the world to see just how brutal reporting from the center of this protest ridden part of the world could be.

Despite the fact that many Middle Eastern and Arab countries have vowed to protect international journalists the right have gotten so out of control that Western journalists are no longer safe in face the major risk of being attacked by major groups of individuals while trying to report the story to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, attacks on Western journalists seem to be a growing trend that could only get worse.

Filed Under: Media Workers, News Tagged With: ,

Novel Ways to Improve Literacy

Many Americans make great effort to read proficiently. A deficient in reading skills keeps one from living to their potential.  Some reading learning disabilities do not respond to the standard techniques.  Playing video games may be an answer.

In the past, scientists believed a brain stopped developing after childhood, and neurons never changed. Brain damage meant maintenance care and not rehabilitative care. The last several decades of brain research show that is not true. Brains are flexible, and can be rewired.  Everyday people recover from damage to the brain, learning disabled begin to read, and people improve skills by gaming.

The American Psychological Association states video games can undo dyslexia. Fast ForWord is a game based on groundbreaking 2003 research study by Elise Temple, PhD, John Gabrieli, PhD, and Dr. Tallal.  Using MRIs, the team demonstrated playing the game improved thinking and performance in children with dyslexia. During the children’s game time, the study established improved activity in multiple brain regions. The improvement continued even after game time when children practiced their reading.

A popular game named Dance Revolution also had an effect on brain processing.   Tammy McGraw , an education specialist with the Appalachian Educational Laboratory did a study with 62 sixth graders, who had ADHD.  ADHD is a condition that makes it difficult to concentrate for long periods of time, and effects memory skills.  After using Dance Revolution for an interval, the study revealed noticeable improvement in the areas of attentiveness and memorizing.  Skill levels rose as the frequency of gaming time increased.

People are diverse inside and out.  There is no right or wrong way to learn.  Learning and teaching is about finding the right tool that plays best to a student’s strength and allows them to learn in a fashion that is efficient and suitable for them. For some people that is games.

Filed Under: Educational Reference Tagged With: ,

Web 2 is Here but is it in Schools

In recent years Web 2 has evolved into a substantial set of tools that make any internet user a content provider.  Web 2 does not focus on software, but on practices such as sharing thoughts, sharing information, and harnessing the collective intelligence of users. Students come to school with Web 2 skills in place and ready to use.  School policies often forbid or severely restrict these tools. Education needs to think about this generation’s mode of learning and shift instructional delivery.

What are Web 2 tools?  Web 2 tools are blogs of personal publishing, wikis, rss content aggregators, streaming video such as YouTube, podcasting, and social networking sites likes MySpace and Facebook.

Blogs are on-line personal journals that range from expert information to an individual’s desire to let you know what they think.

Wikis is program that allows users to work collaboratively on a project using a web browser from any computer anywhere.  You can meet, brainstorm, and create and edit a project without ever meeting in person.

RSS content aggregators known as Real Simple Syndication, is a protocol which helps push website updates to readers around the world so they don’t have to search for new content.  This program is waning since Twitter has arrived on the net.

Streaming Video lets you see historic places, people, or events in short snippets.  It has numerous users, who provide thousands of videos on any topic you desire.

Podcasting is an audio broadcast usually in mp3 format that provides information.

Social networking sites provide an account and you acquire friends and discuss whatever your heart desires.  Presidential candidates use them.

Students come to school with Web 2 skills in place and ready to use.  All these programs promote interactive collaboration and design.  Many language arts state standards in education required collaborative efforts.  Finding ways to incorportate these skills into the daily learning process is win for education and a win for future careers.

Filed Under: Educational Reference Tagged With: ,

Social Organization of School

Schools are a large social organization that in any given day has opposing views swirling along with the learning , and yet have to be run in a benevolent, courteous fashion. Joyce Epstein at the Partnership Center for the Social Organization of Schools in Baltimore, Maryland came up with a framework to describe the six types of involvement that need to occur in order to have a successful positive school environment. She lists them as follows parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision-making, and collaborating with the community.

There are many ways to parent that are successful.  Once a child enters school, home environments have to be set up to support children as students.  Schools have to provide information on what home conditions support learning.  Support programs and services are created to assist with health, nutrition, and social issues.

Communication underpins the whole environment of school.  Communication has to be two way.  Conferences, language translators, student progress reports, information vehicles for notices, and policies are all channels of keeping all sides informed and focused on the student.

Volunteering is the window that lets the public and parents understand what school is about.  It allows parents and teachers to work together toward a common goal.  It establishes relationships that benefit the student..

Parents are a child’s first teacher.  Learning does not stop when a student goes out the school doors.  Learning at home is  an important component of raising a child.   The teacher shares with the student.  The student shares with the parent.  The parent sends back information that enriches what went on in the classroom.

Decision making about someone’s child has to be a partnership to work.  Power struggles take away support from the student.  Joint decisions between parents, teachers, and administrators keep the system in balance and functioning.

Schools are part of a larger community.  Schools cannot do their job without community support. There is constant service integration within schools to address all the needs of all the students and their families.

Filed Under: Educational Reference Tagged With: ,

Concensus Leadership

Internet endeavors have proved that collaboration and consensus works and can be very profitable.  There is much education can learn from those enterprises.  Consensus is an agreement that is acceptable to all parties and addresses the interests of all parties.  Consensus leadership is the intentional conscience decision to lead not alone, but to collaborate. In education, consensus leadership means a principal has to enlist the support of the entire faculty and support staff.

Why bother?  There is a proverb that states two heads are better than one.   Consensus leadership allows for many heads. Education is a complex mission and with accountability, any weakness becomes apparent.  Complexity and addressing weaknesses requires a team of people.  Consensus leadership allows combined knowledge, expertise, and experience of all stakeholders  to become the focus.  Long lasting change and fostering positive school environments does not happen with dictatorships and bully styles.  It happens when staff respect each other’s ideas and knowledge from the cafeteria worker to the principal.

Developing deep levels of professional trust and openness encourages collaborative site management of a facility.  Decisions come with explanations of the process and law.  A process has to be in place on how to reach agreement.  Discussion and finding solutions for problems that provide a win on both sides are best. Policies are established and tried, but are regularly reviewed and adjustments made accordingly. It involves listening to colleagues and students.  Programs that decide what is best for all rather than one controlling group generally are accepted easier.

Success never relies on one person especially in education.  Equally, failures are never because of one factor.  It takes the insight of a veteran educator with the freshness of a new educator guided by administrators who listen to find real solutions to education problems.  Education is about changing behavior. It is a constant road of breaking habits and forming better ones.  Learning really is not about answers, but about asking questions and talking. Consensus allows it.

Filed Under: Educational Reference Tagged With: ,

Social Media and Education

Social media is web based programs that foster communication in an interactive way.  Examples of social media is Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter.  Individuals, businesses, and even presidential candidates use these sites to interact with the public and disseminate information.  These programs are popular among youth.

There has been the usual dirge at the education sites about the negative impact of these type of programs.  It goes something like this it is distracting students, it is causing failing grades, and it too dangerous to use in classrooms. The truth is none of the social medias are evil or negative.  It is a tool people choose to interact with.  Any negativity is the result of a decision made by a human being to use the tool in a negative way.  If there is negative then there is positive.  Positive just does not make the news.

There are teachers using social media for teaching and learning.  This is the 21st century and 21st century jobs and learning demands and requires fluent use of the Internet which social media is a large part.   Many students come to school with the skills to use the media in place.  In other words, they are set up by the culture ready for teaching. Safety issues can be addressed by using sites that are created specifically for education.

Blogs can be used for research and for strengthening writing skills.  Some blogs are written by leading experts in a field and often have comment boxes.  After reading your favorite author’s book, you can go to their blog and ask questions. Political candidates use social media to dispense knowledge on  issues.  Facebook is a place where one can get President Obama’s stand on an issue.  Twitter is used to remind students of approaching deadlines, and pointing out needed resources for projects.

Every change that impacts education nay sayers come out.  In the classrooms, there are groups of yes sayers quietly integrating new technologies into learning, because they see the world as it is and not the way it was.

Filed Under: Educational Reference, Media Workers Tagged With: ,

Mobile Learning

There is a lot of knowledge accessible with a mobile phone.  They have a multitude of applications that could support learning from access to the Internet to games. If mobile phones are low cost, available, and can do many functions like a computer why can’t they be used in schools for learning?  Well, most American policies at schools attempt to keep mobile phones out or limit use.  The policies are not working.

In developing countries, mobile phones are being looked at as way to provide education at a minimal price.  Textbooks are expensive.  In countries such as Uganda mobile phones are allowed in classrooms.  Phones and phone plans overall are much cheaper than installing the infrastructure and maintenance of computers.  High end smart phones often provide more than a net book.  Textbooks go out of date almost from the moment they are published, but the Internet updates daily so access to the world at large is gotten for a small price.  Any system or technique that allows literacy to happen in poverty areas would be a help. Future jobs in countries will require computer skills.  This trend of mobile phone use for learning though is not institutionalized.  The  program is small and in only a few classrooms of willing teachers.

Mobile phone learning is happening throughout the world, but it is scattered. and not any organized drive is happening currently. There is hope. The issue has caught the eye of  EdTech. and  Worldbank. According to Micheal Trucano, a noted educational specialist for Worldbank, several pilot programs were initiated several years ago for mobile phones in the classroom.  Pilot sites were chosen and the program began. The study was scheduled to be completed in December 2010.  In the next few months the study analysis should come out. It will be interesting to see what impact the phones had on those students.

Mobile phones rule with teenagers now, but it may be possible phones end up running the world.

Filed Under: Educational Reference Tagged With: ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »